Saturday, June 4, 2016

I am so behind on this series! I am hemming and hawing on whether I should go back and start from the beginning. I really don't have TIME to go back and start from the beginning... but I don't remember what happened in the past books and its driving me crazy! Plus, the series is narrated by Robert Petkoff, who may just be my new favorite male narrator. I am very picky with the boys narrating my stories... so I am happy to have found one that I like.

This story features a fairly interesting heroine... a halfling as the hero is so fond of calling her. Holly Ashwin is a half-human, half-valkyrie germaphobe mathematician living a PG-rated life and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Having grown up in a picture perfect adopted family, Holly does not know about her valkyrie heritage. He strange abilities were difficult to deal with growing up, so she forced herself into a strictly controlled environment free of any stimuli that would trigger her passion or rage. However now Holly is the vessel... the supernatural baby maker of the moment. Her first born child with be a great warrior of either good or evil, depending on whose sperm gets in there first. Going on the run with a millenium-old sexy demon shakes up Holly's life beyond belief, and it was great seeing her let go and transform into her valkyrie self.

Cadeon Woede, Kingmaker and Rage Demon has known that Holly was his fated female from the first time he saw her. However he wasn't able to claim Holly because he (and everyone else) thought she was human, and such pairings are forbidden for members of the Lore. Cade has only been waiting for his female for 900 years... so imagine how happy/relieved/possessive he would be once he learned that she was not human and he could claim her. Now imagine how he would feel finding out that he must give up his fated female to an evil sorcerer, brother of his enemy, because its the only way he regain his brother's crown and kingdom. I loved Cadeon... and I usually am not fan of demonic stories but I loved this big blond brawny demon. And it certainly helped that Robert Petkoff did a fabulous South African accent for him. I could have listened to that all day. I didn't quite get drawn into the load of guilt Cade had been carrying around, but I loved his cocky attitude and blunt nature.

This was not an insta-love relationship. Although Cade knew Holly was his fated female, he did not intend to claim her because he felt obligated to turn her over to the sorcerer in exchange for a sword that would kill the usurper of his kingdom. And Holly was too busy trying to resist all temptation to really notice or understand Cade's true interest in her... she was only seeing his surface instead of his deeper intentions and emotion. Once they do come together, things are very steamy - for a while at least. But Cade must still reach the sorcerer's lair by the deadline, so they must keep moving toward their goal, which will also be the ultimate test of their fledgling relationship. There was a lot of good sexual tension in this book, and the build up to Cade's claiming was nicely done. I liked that it fell to Holly to take the reins in the end because Cade was determined to be honorable and self-sacrificing. I also liked all the action and suspense that kept the story moving forward when we weren't focused on the relationship.

I an interested to see what happens in the next installment with Sabine and Rydstrom... and I will definitely be continuing in audio with this awesome narrator.